Videocon to invest Rs 500 cr to setup mobile assembly plant in Punjab

Videocon to set up a new mobile handset assembly plant in Punjab, which will also manufacture set top boxes. The plant will create employment for 3000 people over a period of time in the state.

ETTelecom

Updated: October 29, 2015, 18:20 IST

ONGC and OIL today paid USD 2.475 billion to Videocon Group for acquiring 10% stake in a giant gas field off Mozambique. NEW DELHI: Videocon Industries will invest Rs 500 crore over the next three years to set up a new mobile handset assembly plant in Punjab, which will also manufacture set top boxes. The plant will create employment for 3000 people over a period of time in the state.

“We are happy to announce that Videocon would be setting up a Mobile assembly plant in Punjab. I have visited several States, but the speed of progress, development and treatment given to industrialists in this State is of par excellence," Anirudh Dhoot, director of Videocon Industries, said.

Videocon recently bagged a contract to make five lakh handsets for Coolpad India, a subsidiary of China's largest smartphone maker, in the first quarter of the next fiscal. In addition, the company is also making feature and smartphones for Spice Mobiles out of the Aurangabad manufacturing facility.

Smartphone makers are looking to tap into the multi-billion dollar opportunity in India, which is one of the fastest growing smartphone markets in the world. As per IDC, the Indian handset industry is poised to overtake the US as the second-largest market in the next few years. Shipments in India grew 44 percent to 26.5 million units in April-June, as per research firm IDC.

Leading handset makers Samsung and Micromax already have assembly units in the country. A bunch of handset makers like Xiaomi, Lenovo, OnePlus and Gionee have started manufacturing operations in India in partnership with electronics major Foxconn.

Jio’s Rs 2,399 annual plan offers 2GB per day data that costs effectively Rs 200 per month. It also offers unlimited voice and SMS. Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s Rs 2398 and Rs 2399 annual plans, on the other hand, offer 1.5GB per day data along with unlimited voice and SMS